Provence Spa Break: Sisley Spa at Bastide de Gordes

If you’re looking to find the most desirable real estate in the South of France, follow the monks. Call it divine inspiration, but the Cistercian order had an uncanny knack for picking out the region’s most pleasant spots – most of them with practically transcendent views.

La Bastide de Gordes certainly proves this point. Located on the site of a 12th-century monastery, in the 16th century it was a private residence before eventually becoming the police station and post office for the village of Gordes. It was transformed into a hotel in the Eighties, when it gradually expanded to the sprawling property it is today.

The current owner bought the hotel in 2014, and set about creating his dream residence – channelling the opulent style of a rural castle from the reign of Louis XV. It was grand even before that. The late French president François Mitterrand, whose secret love child Mazarine Pingeot resided with her mother in Gordes, was a regular visitor here.

Bastide de Gordes is a scattering of buildings in one of Provence's fabled villages perchés

Arranged over 10 floors, it has 40 rooms and suites, a Sisley spa, four swimming pools, a Pierre Gagnaire restaurant as well as a dining room called La Citadelle. The entire property is decorated with 18th-century antiques, 16th-century terracotta floor tiles, Pierre Frey fabrics and thousands of paintings and etchings - some genuine, some not. The owner is currently working with the same designer on a chateau in Versailles, due to open in 2019.

LOCATION 10/10 Fact one: the Luberon is one of the most beautiful spots on earth. Fact two: Gordes is widely considered the prettiest of the area’s fabled villages perchés. Fact three: the hotel’s position, straddling a cliff, a cicada’s hop from the centre of town, means it enjoys the village’s best views over the verdant valley.

In short, this is one of the finest hotel locations you’ll find anywhere in the world. It's just an hour's drive from Avignon (five hours direct by Eurostar), or one-and-half hours drive north of Marseille.

Cyclists will enjoy the winding, hilly roads – crane your neck and you can spot the treeless summit of Mont Ventoux in the distance – while hikers can reach lush Provençal woodland within minutes of leaving town. We took a stroll to the sublime Sénanque Abbey, founded by the Cistercian order in the 12th century – about an hour’s round trip on foot.

Views from Bastide de Gordes

STYLE/CHARACTER 8/10 From the outside, La Bastide de Gordes leaves little to be desired in terms of picture-perfect prettiness, its walls of buttery local stone punctuated by tapering cypresses and lush green lawns. It’s undeniably gorgeous, and that’s before you’ve even swivelled round to drink in majestic views of the lavender fields of the Cavaillon plain stretching away towards the extraordinary wedge of rock that is the Luberon mountains.

Inside, however, the hotel delivers a more Marmite experience. Before 2014, the decor was classic white, simple, rustic Provençal. So far, so predictable. But the new owner invested €20m to realise his fairytale fantasy of an 18th-century castle, complete with tapestries, heraldic motifs and, yes, a suit of armour.

The staff uniforms are similarly Disneyfied, the women in floor-length pleated skirts and tunics that make them look like extras from a Hammer House of Horror tavern scene.

Bedroom interior at Bastide de Gordes

Yet even if you’ve decided – as we did – that you’re not sold on the chateau ensemble (although our bathroom with central tub was pretty special) and you might have preferred the decor the way it was before, there’s no denying that the refit has been carried out sumptuously, sensitively and with immense expertise.

Say what you will about castles, they do give the simultaneous impression of grandeur and cosiness, which presumably was exactly the point.

Welcoming touches include a Provençal trilby and toile washbag placed on beds, alongside skincare samples from the Sisley spa and gorgeous informative cards complete with cute graphics listing the weather and local things to do, like daily markets, for the following day.

Guest bathroom at Bastide de Gordes

FACILITIES IN THE SPA 9/10 The monastic abbey-inspired architecture, all cooling stone walls and vaulted corridors, immediately imparts a sense of calm, enhanced further by the hushed tones of the therapists. The beauty of the Sisley spa is that the staggered hillside setting means there is no basement to banish it to; instead the rooms benefit from natural light with sun-dappled private terraces for open-air massages beneath ancient olive trees.

There are three treatment rooms plus one double for couples, a hammam, sauna and entertaining “sensory showers” that enable you to opt for six different settings - I liked “tropical rain” that comes complete with bird song. There’s also a compact gym (two treadmills, two elliptical bikes and one bike & weights) and a very decent sized indoor pool, which is open at one end to the Luberon valley views.

Private terrace of a treatment room at Sisley Spa, Bastide de Gordes

THE TREATMENTS 9/10 Sisley specialises in Phyto-Aromatic Treatments and I have to say rarely have I enjoyed the aromas of products so much, or encountered such an informed team of therapists.

I opted for the Signature Body Treatment, with my therapist Emilie vigorously scrubbing my entire body with the Energising Foaming Exfoliant gel, starting quite intensely with my rough, cracked feet and leaving me tingling all over and smelling of rosemary and lavender.

Showering post-scrub I marvelled at my new-born silkiness. The deep massage that followed with Sisley’s Anti-Aging Concentrate Firming Bodycare was so good I actually (gently) snored myself awake at one point. The moisturiser is designed to improve slackening skin - I’m no believer in miracles, but it certainly left my skin feeling smooth, glowing and healthy for around 10 days afterwards. The rather wonderful finale involved a brief mini-facial.

Indoor pool at the Sisley Spa at Bastide de Gordes

FOOD/DRINK 10/10 In culinary terms, the hotel’s main event is the Restaurant Peir by Pierre Gagnaire. A beautiful space with a breathtaking view and refreshingly minimalist décor (the food’s the star here), it is complemented by a further two restaurants, La Citadelle (where a lavish buffet breakfast is served) and bistro-style relaxed L'Orangerie, both of which have beautiful terraces and specialise in Provençal cuisine (the Niçoise salad was one of the best I've ever eaten).

The bar is a popular spot for sundowners with well-heeled locals flocking here for early evening cocktails and the Sunday brunch is likewise a big draw for families.

Sisley Spa at Bastide de GordesCredit:
Fabric Rambert

The service in all these, like the rest of the hotel, is utterly flawless. Intuitive, attentive (without being over-familiar), and always helpful, the staff here are so impressive, they make you critically re-evaluate other establishments that call themselves five-star. This is the real McCoy.

Ladies arriving at the restaurant, for example, are wordlessly provided with a little handbag stool. It’s little touches like this that make you feel truly spoilt. Which is exactly what you come to place like this for. On our first morning the staff remembered that I can’t eat wheat and, totally unprompted, delivered gluten-free bread to our table. Full marks.

The details: Double rooms from €300 (£268) in low season from October; rising to €2,770 (£2,475) in high season (summer), including breakfast. Facials from €160 (£143) and massages from €150 (£134), Signature Sisley Body Treatment €240 (£214).